If there is one thing that we all want to be sure about when heading into a hospital environment, it is that we are stepping into a world of precision equipment. A review of medical literature shows that even routine procedures are fraught with difficulty. For instance, a typical lumbar puncture has five primary areas of risk, and that is before the quality of the tube begins to even enter the equation. As doctors explain: “what we need to achieve is difficult enough without equipment also being a factor”.

Production demands can often be met in-house; however, in some circumstances, it makes sense to outsource manufacturing to an outside expert. Outsourcing is a viable option when specialist skills or processes are required but a business doesn’t possess the necessary tools, equipment, or expertise to deliver outstanding results, or it can be part of a long-term business strategy to cut costs and increase profits.

Many manufacturing companies have embraced the turmoil of recent years to adapt their operations and futureproof their organisations against unforeseen events. But the changing face of business isn’t simply defined by isolated incidents, despite the global supply chain instability caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Eastern Europe. Evolutions in the way customers do business has transformed the manufacturing landscape, with a soaring reliance on digital channels and constantly shifting consumer demands also forcing many manufacturers to reconsider how to stay competitive.

What difference does it really make to choose cheaper, lower quality industrial rollers over higher-priced, higher quality alternatives? Manufacturers are under two pressures: Firstly, you need to complete your project to your customer’s satisfaction, meaning that every component must meet the required standard of function and composition. Secondly, you need to complete the project as quickly and as cheaply as possible, in order to deliver within timescale and budget.

When you receive a precision engineering quotation for your project, it’s easy to focus solely on the price. After all, it is in every business’s interest to manage costs to reduce overheads and maximise profits – particularly when we are facing the rising costs and scarcity of materials and consumables right now. And, if you’ve sought quotes from multiple suppliers, the temptation to simply compare the given prices and select the most attractive one – which invariably will be the lowest – is strong.

Deep hole drilling is a machining process in which holes are created up to ten times deeper than the hole diameter. Suitable for a range of metals, including the strongest of superalloys, deep hole drilling is used in many fields, including oil and gas generation, aerospace, mould-making, and heavy industry.

Effective deep hole drilling demands precision to achieve close tolerances and an optimum surface finish, both of which are negatively affected by incorrect speeds or feeds. Drilling vibration, or chatter, can occur for a variety of reasons, including poor machine preparation, incorrectly chosen cutting tools, improper speeds, and sometimes cause excessive run-out.

Deep hole drilling is a machining technology designed to create bores that have high length-to-diameter ratios that could not be produced with conventional drilling techniques.

The recent discovery in Israel of a 3,500-year-old body which had undergone trepanation – the drilling of a hole in the skull to relieve head pain – is one of many examples of this primitive medical procedure that have been discovered by archaeologists. Fortunately, modern science has equipped doctors with the knowledge and skills to treat patients more safely, leaving trepanning to precision engineers in the oil and gas, machinery and heavy equipment, manufacturing, metal production and distribution industries.

In an economic landscape that has experienced considerable volatility in recent years, manufacturing companies face numerous challenges in optimising their operations to maximise profitability.